Blank Spaces in Our Tragedy
by Enula
Summary: Months after the snowstorm, Anna finds out the trolls' role in the events that played out. She has come to love Kristoff, but it's become hard for her to ignore her hidden feelings for Hans when she realizes his cruel actions were not his own. Now she needs to make a choice.
1. Engagement

_AN: I know the troll theory has probably been done before and passed around a few times, but I wanted to do a take on it as well. The trolls' powers were never explained well, so I'm running with it. Their powers can only work within a distance (I'm assuming they are "the trolls of Arendelle") and once a person that has been put under a spell by them leaves the country, the spell breaks. So when Hans leaves Arendelle, he realizes what he's done but doesn't understand why. _

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><p><em><strong>"Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy." - F. Scott Fitzgerald<strong>_

**Blank Spaces in Our Tragedy**

**I.**

"We are now leaving Arendelle territory."

Hearing the guard speak nonchalantly yet fairly loudly, Hans slowly opened his eyes to stare at the small ceiling of his little ten-by-ten prison. He had been dreaming. Dreaming about sitting on a high throne, a polished gold crown resting on his head, and no one standing in the way of his reign over Arendelle.

Waking up in a hard cot with nothing more than a piss bucket beside him was a hard and bitter pill to swallow. And dreaming about how he was so close—if only he had acted five seconds sooner—only made him snare. His fists clenched behind his head and he slammed his boot against the wall.

_How did Anna even get there? She was seconds away from death in the room I left her in, so how did she manage to get all the way out on the fjord?_

Hans closed his eyes again as he tried to piece everything together. If he knew Anna would be that determined, he would have just kissed her and watched true love's kiss fail. She may have been even more heartbroken after that which would have sped up her death.

"We are now clear of Arendelle."

Why was the guard telling him this? Like he cared where he was anymore. By now, all the surrounding kingdoms probably knew him as the one that tried to kill Queen Elsa of Arendelle.

And, of course, he was also known as the one that fooled Princess Anna. He was left with a sore jaw to remind him of that one. Thinking of it, he touched the left side of his face. Who knew such a small girl could pack such a punch.

He smirked despite himself. He had grown up with his brothers always pushing him around (and there were times it got pretty brutal) and he always wondered what he did to deserve such treatment from his family members. It wasn't until he was well into his teenage years that he was able to start winning fights. But by then, all his brothers were out of the physical aggression stage and threw the power of words at him instead.

_"__The only frozen heart around here is yours."_

Hans narrowed his eyes as Anna's last words to him rang through his memory. He had that one coming; yet he found himself questioning _why._

Why was his heart frozen? Was it his heart or…something else?

_"…__but lucky you, it's just me."_

_"__Just…you?"_

His heart began pounding against his chest as he remembered the first time meeting her. She was so happy and full of life and quirky and not at all what he would have expected from a princess who was out walking around among the town's people. There was a freshness about her, a kindred spirit within her that reminded him of what he always wanted in a companion but never had.

_"__Say goodbye to the pain of the past. We don't have to feel it anymore."_

Hans sat up on his cot. What was going on? Why was he thinking about this stuff again? This stuff that…meant nothing to him? It was supposed to be a lie. His words to her only mirrored her own obvious feelings toward him and there was no truth in them.

Right?

_"__Princess Anna is in trouble. I need volunteers to go with me to find her!"_

The panic and horror he felt in that moment washed over him. Her horse was rattled which could only mean that Anna needed his help and the regret of having not gone with her to the mountains punched and weakened his frightened heart.

But then…

Then Anna was cold and desperate in his arms, and—

He covered his face with his hands, his palms pressing heavily into his eyes to try to block out the monster he became during her moment of weakness.

_"__Oh Anna…if only there was someone out there who loved you."_

His heart tightened.

_"__Y-you said you did…"_

He gritted his teeth. _I did. I do…_

He groaned lowly and slid off the cot to his knees.

_What the…what the hell?!_

"Sir, are you getting sea sick?" The guard asked but the voice was distant and practically nonexistent.

Everything he did to Anna after that—the lies he told about their marriage vows…the blame he laid at Elsa's feet—how did that happen? _What was I thinking?!_

He couldn't even begin explaining his actions to himself and it made his stomach clench. His very being seemed so set on killing the princess and the queen and ruling Arendelle as his own, so why was he all of a sudden regretting it? Was that his true intension all along?

_"__Okay, can I just say something crazy?" _Her eyes, so full of joy and relief at finding him.

_"__You'll never get away with this!" _Her eyes, so full of anger and betrayal at discovering the real him.

"No…that's not me…" Hans hissed between grinding teeth, but just when he felt like he was gaining control of himself again, his body lurched forward as he emptied his stomach into the corner of the cell, Anna's despondent eyes seared in his brain.

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><p><strong><em>6 months later<em>**

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><p>"Wow, can you believe it?" Anna held up her left hand as she laid in Elsa's bed, the ring on her finger catching the low light of the room when she turned her hand the right way, "I'm engaged…for real this time!"<p>

Elsa watched her sister's reflection from her mirror. She was sitting at her vanity busily taking out the clips in her hair, "I'm happy for you, Anna."

Anna pushed herself up on her elbows, "I'm happy you're happy. Because seriously, I didn't know what I was going to do if you didn't give me your blessing this time."

"How couldn't I?" Elsa joked softly, "You've been all over each other for months."

Anna tried biting her lip to keep herself from grinning like a mad woman, "It's just that…he's not a prince, you know? At first I thought you would—."

"A title does not reflect a person's self-worth," Elsa interrupted, "You should know that better than anyone."

"Right…" Anna looked down at her nightgown before dropping her elbows so her back was flush against the cool sheets. Talking to Elsa about what happened on Coronation Day was still a little touchy, mostly because it was her actions and mistakes that caused the whole fiasco to happen in the first place.

"Anna," Elsa stood from her stool and walked over to her bed, "Kristoff is a great guy. A little strange and awkward, but—," the two sisters smirked at each other over her choice of words, "at least he's not crazy."

Anna folded in her lips, the words _"but I love crazy" _resting on her tongue, ready to slip out without a moment's thought. But she caught herself. Thankfully.

Elsa had told her before that she was thankful Anna found Kristoff and was able to move on so quickly after what Hans did to her. Anna felt the same. The transition was smooth, almost overlapping even. Her adventure with Kristoff made her like him almost right away. Sure, he was a bit obnoxious at first, and it couldn't be described as _love at first sight _like it was with—

But as Socrates once said: "The hottest love has the coldest ending." And boy, did her and Hans' love end coldly. His sudden change of character still made her mind spin when she thought about that day. What if she didn't find out about him until after they were married? Or worse, what if she never found out about who he truly was and she just went right on loving who she thought he was?

_Wait…would that be worse?_

"Anna."

Blinking, Anna looked over to see Elsa standing beside her bed with an empathetic gleam in her eyes. Anna rolled across the bed to the other side before standing up, "I think I'm gonna have Kristoff take me to see the trolls in the morning so we can tell them the good news. They've been waiting for us to get engaged since…since forever."

Elsa's eyes relaxed, "Yes, well…hopefully they don't marry you two before I can give you a proper wedding."

"Ah, don't worry about that,' Anna dismissed with a wave of her hand, "If they do, I'll make sure not to tell you so you don't feel bad."

The older sister frowned, "You're cruel sometimes."

Anna giggled before prancing around the bed, swinging herself into Elsa's arms for a hug, "Yeah, but you love me."

Laughing as well, Elsa embraced her younger sister like she'd done nearly every night since she finally let Anna in, "That I do."

Anna soon left Elsa to head to her own room. Walking down the dark and empty hallway caused her to look at her ring finger again though the diamond wasn't catching any light to sparkle. She swung her arms dramatically back and forth as she glanced at all the paintings on the walls.

Kristoff was probably in the barn with Sven and she considered going out there to talk with him about visiting his family in the morning but decided against it in the end. She was feeling too weird (more than usual) and didn't want him noticing and questioning it when she herself had no idea why she felt so off.

_The trolls will cheer me up. _She thought as she walked into her bedroom. _They'll probably sing a song, dress me up in grass and flowers, and brag about how they knew we loved each other all along._

She flopped down on her bed face first. She kind of wished she could convince Elsa to come along to see the trolls. That way, the trolls could marry them and Elsa would be there to see it. It seemed more ideal than waiting another month for the big wedding.

Not that a big wedding didn't appeal to her. She was that little girl that always dreamed big and her dream wedding was not excluded. She knew she shouldn't be so impatient. Spending some time as an engaged couple should be just as exciting.

Maybe she was just too excited to start a family. She wanted lots of (well, maybe five or six) kids that she could run around and be silly with. And she would make sure all their doors stayed open. No one child would ever feel left out. And though she wasn't sure if Elsa's powers would be passed down to any of her children, Anna was positive that they would be able to get through it, especially now that everyone accepted Elsa for who she was.

She might ask the trolls about it though.

She turned her head to stare at her ring again. It was her first night as an engaged woman and the idea still seemed so far out of reach for her to grasp.

"Anna Bjorgman." She said it aloud to see how it filled the air. She crinkled her nose as she smiled against the sheets. It sounded like the name of character in a fictional book. A character that owned a flower or book shop. Maybe both.

_Books smell good. Flowers do, too._

Then she parted her lips again, a small breath of air barely escaping.

"Anna…Westerguard."

She squeezed her eyes shut tight and blocked the name from her mind. It was foolish and stupid of her to even wonder about it.

"Anna Bjorgman," she said again, "Anna Bjorgman." She rolled onto her back, "Hello! Nice to meet you, I'm Princess Anna Bjorgman and—," she scrunched her mouth to one side, "Hello! I'm Princess Anna and this is my husband, Prince Kristoff."

She burst out laughing at herself, "_Prince Kristoff…" _She suddenly imagined him with a crooked crown on his head and a goofy smile on his face as he posed for a portrait.

"He'll get used to it…" Anna told herself with a smile, her eyes closing when good thoughts finally entered her mind, "I should start teaching him how to dance."

Maybe the trolls could help, too.


	2. The Trolls

"An evil troll has made a magic mirror that distorts the appearance of everything it reflects. It fails to reflect the good and beautiful aspects of people and things, while magnifying their bad and ugly aspects." - From _The Snow Queen, _1844.

"He begins as the knight in shining armor, and the audience thinks, 'Anna's going to end up with this guy. He's perfect.' But he's a chameleon, a mirror, who adapts to any environment to make the other characters comfortable." — Frozen head of animation Lino Di Salvo on Hans.

"Aren't you somethin' to admire?  
>'Cause your shine is somethin' like a mirror<br>And I can't help but notice  
>You reflect in this heart of mine<br>If you ever feel alone and  
>The glare makes me hard to find<br>Just know that I'm always  
>Parallel on the other side"<p>

- "Mirrors" by Justin Timberlake

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><p><strong>Blank Spaces in Our Tragedy<strong>

**II.**

"It's just like the first time I had you meet my family: snow for miles and miles," Kristoff swung his arm to point out the excess amount of snow that covered the grounds.

Anna smiled out at the untouched whiteness, "It's actually really beautiful when you know it'll all melt eventually."

Sven grunted his agreement as he pranced out into the fluffy snow, his hooves leaving random prints in the glistening powder. Kristoff watched his fiancé stop to admire the carefree reindeer and couldn't help but be taken away by her beauty. Anna's profile displayed both her childish charm and her womanly grace. He smirked. If she ever heard him say her name and _grace _in the same sentence she would certainly throw a snowball at his face.

But in the few months that past, he couldn't help noticing all her differences (all good things, all good things). Her eyes, while still showing their excited curiosity most of the time, revealed something deeper in her soul that he was able to catch when she thought he wasn't looking. He wasn't sure how he felt about it, but it was definitely a change from when he first met her.

Long gone were her braids. She chose to either wear her hair down or in a bun nowadays. He preferred her wearing it down, when it flowed as a wavy auburn cascade down her back. It made her look younger. When she wore it in a bun, she seemed to carry a certain royalty about her.

_Duh. _He always thought to himself. _She is only the Princess of Arendelle after all._

Kristoff was broken from his thoughts when he was pushed to the ground. He grunted as his back collided into the snow, but couldn't help but smile when Anna grinned from atop him.

"You shouldn't think so much; it doesn't suit you," she said with a soft giggle.

He scrunched up his face, "Burn." When she laughed again, he caught the flash of sparkle in her eyes that he always longed for. He pushed her thick hair behind her ear only for it to fall forward again.

Anna laughed as she sat back on her knees to get her hair out of the way, "So you think Grand Pabbie and the others will be excited when we tell them?"

"No doubt about it," Kristoff responded as he sat up with his hands between his knees, "It's what they wanted since the first time they met you, right?"

"Heh…" Anna stood to her feet, preferring not to think about the words they used in their song, "True. We're almost there, right?"

She began trudging through the snow again, Kristoff hopping to his feet to follow, "Yep, about another half a mile."

Anna only half smiled and welcomed Sven when he brushed his head under her arm. She stroked the top of his head, "You having fun?"

He nodded and grunted in agreement.

"I swear, he's like a little kid when he's playing in the snow," Kristoff commented as he watched his best friend lean into his fiancé's touch.

"Well, at least you'll know how to handle kids when you get some of your own then, hm?" Anna grinned over to him, enjoying the light blush that lit up his face.

"As…as long as they're like reindeer," he responded. He was then taken aback when Anna burst into laughter.

"Reindeer _are _better than people, right?"

"Only generally…"

The more Anna laughed, the more Kristoff felt his face burn, so he was glad he spotted the familiar rocks just ahead.

"We're here!" He exclaimed in his excitement, and Anna couldn't help it when his enthusiasm flowed into her. It wasn't like she went around telling everyone she was engaged. She told Elsa. But the whole rest of the kingdom found out by word of mouth and official declaration. She couldn't wait to see their reactions now that she was physically with them.

It took the trolls a few moments, but as what appeared to be rocks began trembling and then rolling toward the three of them, they began unfurling themselves.

"Kristoff's back!" Bulda yelled to all the trolls, "And he brought Sven and Anna with him!"

They were suddenly surrounded. All the trolls were talking at once and it didn't even take long at all for one of them to grab her left hand and shout in exuberance, "_They're engaged!"_

Kristoff and Sven were pushed to the side as all the trolls surrounded Anna, wanting to get a better look at the ring. They piled on top of one another and enclosed her in a tight circle and though Anna was never one to be claustrophobic, the feeling began to set in as the heavy and solid creatures rose to above her height.

_"__Calm down!"_ She finally heard a yell and, in a quick instant, all the trolls fell apart and scattered. She looked over to see Grand Pabbie himself stumbling forward with his walking stick. Though he sounded strict when he yelled, his warm, smiling face reminded her of a long forgotten grandparent, "Is it true?"

She nodded in excitement as she held out her left hand to him, "Yep! Kristoff just proposed yesterday."

Pabbie took her hand into his own, the feeling of cold stone odd to her, "Indeed he did."

"It's about time!" Bulda said from behind her as she nudged Kristoff which almost knocked him off his feet.

"Yeah, we've been waiting for this for 6 whole months!" Another troll added.

Anna tried to force a laugh at their excitement, "Well, you know we—."

"It's a good thing we fixed her up!" A younger troll yelled.

"At least her brain isn't betwixt anymore!"

"Good thing we got the other fiancé out of the way!"

All the trolls burst into exuberant chatter again. Anna's mind was whirling in her own excitement and confusion at the trolls' words; they all sounded familiar—it's what they sang on that day six months ago (why did it suddenly feel like eons ago?). She had never taken them into consideration until now, but—

"What do you mean you got the other fiancé out of the way?" She asked in a loud tone so they would hear her, but managed to keep her calmness about her.

The chatter instantly stopped. The sudden silence made her look over to Kristoff to make sure he was still there. He stood on the side of the troll crowd with Sven, but he only shrugged when he caught her eye.

Anna blinked a few times. _Why are they not talking? _"What do you mean you got rid of the other fiancé?" She asked again.

Still, nothing but silence.

Anna narrowed her eyes. She was confused. Why were they suddenly being so quiet? Who slipped the words that weren't supposed to be broken?

Finally, Pabbie sighed and took a wobbly step forward, "We only did what we did because we knew you and Kristoff were destined to be together."

She blinked and finally looked back to Kristoff, but he seemed just as confused as she was. Her heart felt heavy; she wasn't sure why, but she knew she had to find out.

"What did you do?" She asked gently.

When none of the trolls answered, and Pabbie only hung his head in shame, Anna began to panic. There was something telling her that this wasn't right. _What is going on?_

_"__Tell me!" _she screamed, surprising herself. But if there was anything she hated more than secrets, it was being left out altogether. She had been on the wrong side of the door from as far back as she could remember, and she's be damned if she let it control her life all over again.

She felt Kristoff place a hand on her shoulder, and though she wanted to shrug it off, she allowed him to keep it in place. Whatever it was the trolls were keeping from her, she sensed that they were keeping it from him as well.

"The mind is easily persuaded," Pabbie said, his voice sounded more ancient than usual, "We just had to wait for a trigger for the plan to take effect."

Anna shot her head back, "Am I supposed to understand that? Because that sounds like a riddle to me and I—."

"It's not a riddle," Pabbie interrupted, looking her straight in the eye but only for a moment before he seemed too ashamed to do so, "All of this happened the way it did since the day you—."

"Kristoff, what is he talking about?" she turned to ask her fiancé, because she didn't have the heart to wait for all of Pabbie's beating around the bush talk.

And he wanted to tell her that he had _no idea _what they were getting at, but that would be a lie. And if there was one thing he couldn't do, it was lie. Especially to Anna. Though he didn't know all the details, he was picking on my cues that lead on a path.

Sighing deeply, Kristoff looked down at the ground, "It sounds like they did something to…" he trailed off. He didn't think he would ever have to say her ex-fiancé's name—he also didn't know what mentioning his name would do to Anna so avoided it at all—

"Hans?" she whispered as she finished the sentence he was unable to. Kristoff watched as her eyes went from confused determination to tangled sadness. _This was supposed to be a joyous announcement. _He thought to himself. _How did it turn into this—and so suddenly?_

"The spell was only supposed to happen if he tried to kiss you," Pabbie spoke up, causing Anna and Kristoff to turn to him, "The lack of True Love's Kiss was the factor that would set your happily ever after in motion."

Anna closed her eyes and shook her head while mumbling, "That makes no sense…"

"Child…" Pabbie stepped forward again, his eyes weary as the other trolls seemed to fade into the background, "You have to understand, most humans have more than one true love in this world…it's only a matter of which one you choose that will become _The _One."

Anna felt like she was in a daze as she shook her head, "No, that still doesn't answer my question."

Grand Pabbie looked around at the other trolls. Something he usually doesn't do, "We have known Kristoff all his life and know him better than he knows himself," he paused here as he stared at his human son, "We were always there to calm his rampant emotions as he grew. And when we saw him with you, Anna—," Anna's mouth dropped open, "—we knew he loved you more than anything he's ever loved before."

"Of course he—," Anna stopped herself before she said something she knew she would regret. Just because she was the first human female Kristoff bonded with didn't meant anything. First love (or true love) is what it is. Who was she to question that?

"An offended heart is the breeding ground of deception," Pabbie said with an awkward sort of finality.

Anna blinked as she swayed, suddenly very grateful for Kristoff's hand on her shoulder. She felt like that was the only thing keeping her grounded, "I thought you said the heart wasn't easily persuaded…"

"It is when the mind is."

She shook her head because she still felt like she was on the outside of some cruel riddle. Pabbie looked too ashamed to continue. Finally, Bulda stepped up to Anna, "You're happy with Kristoff, aren't you, Dear? Embrace the love you have with him and forget the past."

"This doesn't sound like it's about me…"Anna murmured in a melancholy tone, "It's about what you did to Hans, isn't it?"

Pabbie sighed, "Was he about to kiss you when his intentions suddenly changed?"

Anna's heart skipped a beat at the mention of that day, "That's _exactly_ what happened…"

"His darkest desires blackened his heart," Pabbie explained quickly and simply and, to Anna, almost uncaringly.

"But—," Anna began before she was interrupted by Kristoff.

"But that means he still did what he did due to his own desires, right?"

"Everyone has dark thoughts sometimes, Kristoff…but most of us are able to suppress them because we know they're wrong…" she spoke sadly and wisely, surprising Kristoff. How did this girl—his sweet and pure of heart fiancé—know about darkness of the heart? She continued: "But if a spell is cast on us…what ability do we have to fight it?"

"True Love's Kiss can still break any spell," Pabbie alleged.

_So if I would have kissed Hans…it would have broken both of our curses? But instead…_

"So Hans wasn't really evil? He was just…just him all along?"

"I cannot answer that," Pabbie shook his head, "for I do not know who he really was."

Anger flashed across Anna's otherwise loving eyes, "You ruined his life because of what you did! You—I could have _died _because of what you did! _My sister _could have died! What if Hans has been ex—," she cut herself short, not even being able to think about what must have happened to Hans after he was sent back to his own country.

"Anna…" Kristoff's hand tightened on her shoulder. He stepped in front of her to look her in the eyes only to get met with blankness. It was like she was looking right through him, "Anna, we'll find out what happened to him. He might be fine and then we can—."

"Even if he is still alive!" Anna yelled as tears finally sprung to her orbs, the liquid heavy as it burned against the chilly air. She was afraid that if she blinked, they would flow down her cheeks and freeze permanently like a regretful tattoo. "Even if he is still alive…what a horrible life he must be living…and all because of me…"

Bulda spoke from somewhere in the distance, "You can't possibly blame yourself for this."

Anna covered her face with her hands. Kristoff caught sight of her engagement ring. It was a reminder of how far they've come. How they wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for the trolls' _assistance. _

"I'm sorry, I—," Anna's voice cracked and she spun herself away from Kristoff. She blindly walked away from the burning eyes of all the trolls. She had to be by herself—and she never thought she would think that way. Growing up alone and isolated, she thought she would always choose to be around others than alone.

Kristoff stepped forward but then halted himself. He wasn't good with these things. If she wanted to be left alone, should he just leave her alone? From beside him, Sven wailed lowly as he sensed the solemnness of Anna. Kristoff leaned in close to him, "Go with her, Sven. Make sure she stays safe."

The reindeer nodded before bowing his head and heading after Anna. Kristoff sighed heavily as he sat on a rock, his head hanging low as he stared at the ground. He felt useless. He was supposed to marry Anna in a month and he loved her more than anything, and yet he wasn't sure if there was anything he could do to make her feel better about this.

"Did we do something wrong, Kristoff?" a young troll asked from his feet, staring up at him with big, curious eyes.

Kristoff looked at the troll who waited somewhat impatiently for an answer. But he didn't know how to answer. He wanted to tell the youngster that no, they did nothing wrong. But that would be a lie.


End file.
